Muralitharan takes blame for India’s dominating win over Sri Lanka

London, Apr 4 (ANI): The highest wicket taker in one-day internationals and Tests, Muttiah Muralitharan, has blamed himself for India’s dominating win over Sri Lanka in last Saturday’s World Cup final in Mumbai, as he failed to take any wicket.

As India celebrated its six wicket win over Sri Lanka, the visiting team returned home to largely deserted streets and to pointed questions about playing Murali in a “sentimental farewell” when he was not fully fit.

Murali battled knee, hamstring and groin problems during the World Cup, and was never remotely near full fitness, The Guardian reports.

Muralitharan was not so lucky as other legend Sachin Tendulkar, who fulfilled his long dream of wining the World Cup.

Having quit Test cricket last year and announcing that he would quit all forms of the game after the World Cup, the spin wizard went wicketless in his 350th and final One-day International to finish with 534 wickets (he has 800 in Tests) during his 19-year international career.

Muralitharan said: “We got enough runs on the board - 274 was a good score - but we couldn’t crack their batting, especially in the middle part.

“The spinners didn’t take enough wickets, that was the main reason. If I or Suraj [Randiv] had taken a few wickets, the story would have been different.” (ANI)